1000 years of Thang Long

Biggest-ever parade marks Hanoi’s millennium

A grand meeting and biggest-ever parade was held at Ba Dinh Square
on October 10 to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The meeting was attended by Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, State
President Nguyen Minh Triet, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, National
Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland
Front (VFF) Central Committee Huynh Dam, and Secretary of the Hanoi
municipal Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi along with former senior State
and Party leaders.

Ambassadors, representatives from
international organisations in Vietnam, centrally-run ministries,
sectors and media agencies plus heroic mothers, revolutionary veterans,
armed forces and labour heroes, and almost 40,000 people and soldiers
representing millions of others in and outside the country also joined
the event.

The celebration honoured the armed forces and
highlighted the tremendous achievements Hanoi and the country have
recorded during 1,000 years of history, national construction and
development, and during the Doi Moi (Renewal) process in which Hanoi
has been honoured as a capital city of peace and friendship.

To
begin the celebration, a torch was lit at Hanoi ’s Millennial
Anniversary cauldron. The torch symbolises eternal vitality of the
Vietnamese nation and the flame of Ho Chi Minh’s thoughts which has lit
the revolutionary path towards the goal of a prosperous people living in
a powerful country with a just, democratic and civilised society.

Party
and State leaders, along with the delegates, saluted the national flag
while the military band played the national anthem and 21 canons fired a
salvo.

In his speech, President Triet extended his best wishes
and sincere thanks to people across the country, overseas Vietnamese and
international friends for their special sentiments towards Hanoi on
its 1000th grand anniversary.
1,000 years ago, in the autumn
of 1010, King Ly Thai To issued the royal edict to transfer the capital
from Hoa Lu to Thang Long, opening up a glorious period of development
for the capital.

From that historic milestone to the Ho Chi Minh
era, over 1,000 years of ups and downs, Thang Long-Hanoi has maintained
its assured posture and indomitable spirit, deserving to be the heart
of the whole country, he said.

“The 1000th anniversary of Thang
Long-Hanoi gave us a chance to highlight the noble traditional values
and priceless heritage of our ancestors and express our deep gratitude
to those who founded the country as well as President Ho Chi Minh,
revolutionary veterans, and heroic martyrs who laid down their lives for
national independence and freedom,” Triet said.

“We are
responsible for preserving and upholding the ancestors’ traditions and
raising them to a new level in the Ho Chi Minh era,” he further said.

President
Triet called on the whole population to unite and use energy, brain
power and talent to build Hanoi into a civilised, modern and
beautiful capital capable of keeping pace with other cities in the
world.

Following President Triet’s speech, there was a grand
parade with ten helicopters flying above carrying the Party and National
flags and banners saying “The 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi”.

The
parade, the biggest of its kind, attracted the participation of
representatives from different groups, including the army, war veterans,
the youth, workers, farmers, intellectuals, State employees,
entrepreneurs, religions, women and overseas Vietnamese.

The
celebration concluded with art performance by 2,000 artists and
actresses and with release of balloons and doves into the sky above
historic Ba Dinh square./.